Will a doughnut breast lift cause bigger nipples?

Your plastic surgeon gave you accurate advise. A Donut lift tends to stretch out the areola with time whereas a lollipop lift is far less likely to do so. 

It is possible that a doughnut lift can increase the diameter of the areolas.  In general, this lifting technique is used often with implants and when only a smaller lift is indicated. The nature of the lift puts a lot of tension on the outer edge of the areolas. As part of this technique, a permanent stitch is usually placed which encircles the areolas and is tightened to prevent stretching of the aereola. This is less predictable than some of the other techniques of lifting and at times a larger aereola may result.

Thank you for our question.  A doughnut lift does not impact the nipples.  It is not a very powerful lift and what can typically happen is the areola (pigmented skin around the nipple) can get stretched out.  The type of lift is really designed to maximally tighten skin and position the nipple.  Trying to ask one type of lift to do too much can lead to an unfavorable cosmetic appearance.  Your surgeon should be able to help guide you with the best approach.

Hello and thanks for this question.  Many women who need a lift are concerned about the scars (anchor) and ask about a lift with less scars.  The circum-areolar lift is the one where you get a scar around the outer edge of the areola.  There is a chance that the areola size increases after this lift without change to the nipple size.  The reason is because the tension is around the areola which will pull it outwards.  It may happen or it may not.  Difficult to tell you with certainty.  The larger the implant, the more tension which would pull on the areola.The standard lift with anchor scars does not put tension on the areola.  All of these scars are hidden by a bra or bathing suit top and do heal remarkably well with time.  I do believe you get a better shape with this lift unless you have minimal droop where a circum-areolar lift will do.  I do not have patients unhappy with the anchor scars when they see how nice the breast shape is after the lift.I would recommend some other opinions to help you make your decision.

For a limited uplift, the donut mastopexy can do the job, but you do risk some enlargemnt of the areolar if you try too much of a lift with this procedure.  My personal preference is to do the areolar incision like in the donut mastopexy, plus what we call a dart, which is an incision from the areolar downward. Some call this a lollipop incision. More of a lift can be expected with no spreading of the areolar.Still, when significant lift is desired, the incision in the inframammary fold must be made in addition to the other incisions mentioned above for the best breast shape.

There are many kinds of "donut" lifts.  There are techniques with permanent draw-string sutures to prevent areolar widening.  BUT, not everyone is a candidate, because such a lift can only reposition the nipple by about 2 cm.

Great question. Basically, there are three kind of breast lifts. Circumareolar (doughnut), Circumvertical (lollipop) and Wise Pattern (anchor) are all used depending of the severity of the breast ptosis or "sag". When appropriately used, the "doughnut lift" can do very nicely, but only for very small lifts. The other two are used depending on what is needed. Care is taken to insure the nipples do not spread or enlarge using wide undermining of the skin and specialized sutures, etc. Consult with your Board Certified Plastic Surgeon for the best suggestions. Generally, I prefer to reduce the size of the nipple (areola) when doing a breast lift to give it a more youthful and aesthetic appearance. Scaring is always a concern and care must be taken to minimize scarring. Type of sutures, surgical manipulation, post operative taping and scar gels as well as bra support make for very fine scars generally. Good luck.

A doughnut  lift refers to a circum-areolar lift ie. an incision around the  areola.What is more important than the skin insision, is what is done below the skin.The lifting should be done internally, often, with mesh or scaffold support.There should be no tension on the skin in order to avoid stretching of the scar.I use the sub-areolar  technique where sutures are placed beneath the areola for additional support

Without an exam it is difficult to say whether a donut lift would be adequate. If the nipple areola does not have to move up too much it may be a viable option.

Depending on your starting point, the answer is yes. I typically reserve a peri-areolar or doughnut breast lift for small lists only, where the nipple needs to be raised a centimeter or less. Much larger than that can both flatten and cause stretch of the areola.  Think about trying to sew the outside edge of a doughnut to the inside edge of a doughnut--one is much larger than the other!  The areola will tend to stretch out again to accommodate the larger circle.  In addition, trying to be too aggressive with this type of lift can actually flatten the appearance of the breast as well.  Adding a vertical incision (lollipop scar) or a short T is often needed to really appropriately lift and shape the breast tissue. Generally, with time and good scar care these scars fade & improve ending up hardly visible in many patients. Good luck!